Visiting Dallas

Berry Johnston

Dallas has always been one of America's great poker cities, despite the fact that it does not have legalized public cardrooms. Some famous poker names associated with Dallas include 1985 World Champion Bill Smith, tournament superstar T.J. Cloutier, and the colorful Ken "Top Hat" Smith.



When I took up no-limit hold'em in the early '80s, I moved from Detroit to Dallas. It would be hard to get as good a poker education anywhere else. For three years, I played no-limit hold'em nearly every day, usually with blinds of $5-$10-$25. Many of my opponents were among the best cash-game no-limit hold'em players in the country. Fortunately, there also were some donators to keep the game playable. I lived in Dallas for three enjoyable years (until I moved to Vegas to play pot-limit Omaha).



In September, I was scheduled to visit Dallas and give a lecture at a poker gathering. I was enthusiastic about visiting Dallas, as I still have close friends there, including some who are not poker players. The poker event was cancelled at the last minute, but I already had made too many social commitments to back out of going.



I decided to rent a car at the airport so that no one would have to drive me around. It turned out that the price for the weekend – Friday afternoon through Monday morning – was unbelievably cheap: $62 for everything except gas. The traffic was a lot worse than I remembered it, though.



On Friday night, I was an invited guest at a special dinner in the wine cellar of The Lodge, a men's club with upscale decor that runs a poker tournament every Sunday afternoon. The dinner honored Michael Kaplan and Brad Reagan, a pair of talented writers who co-authored a new poker book titled Aces and Kings. This book is a very well-written compendium of stories about some of poker's most colorful and talented players. It was a particularly interesting book to me, because so many of the featured players were also friends and acquaintances of mine.



The Lodge is managed by Dawn Rizos, who is also the owner, along with her husband, Nick. Dawn is clearly a friend of poker. Her Sunday afternoon tournament is held every week. It is run by Dan Michalski, with assistance from Randy Haws, a Michigan transplant. Some of the ladies who dance at the club also like to deal in the tournament; this does not hurt the ambience. Frankly, a free poker tournament is not much of a moneymaker for the house, but it sure is a great source of new customers.



Since there is no entry fee or hidden charges, this type of tournament is usually legal, according to state law. Unless a state specifically prohibits a contest at card games – and few do – you can hold a poker tournament and give away prizes as long as it is a giveaway promotion. Of course, a place that sells alcoholic beverages is also subject to the state body that regulates this activity. I was told by Dawn that such a contest is permitted in Texas liquor establishments. I wish the Michigan Liquor Commission could see how well this type of an event works, as many bars in my state would love to host one, but it is not allowed here.



While I was in Dallas, I helped my friend Bobby Sadler of Oklahoma promote a very special event at Tulsa's Cherokee Casino and Resort, where he works. This first-annual Texas-Oklahoma poker match, the Red River Rumble, was to be held on the same weekend when the Texas and Oklahoma football teams clashed. (You will already know the outcome by the time this column is printed in Card Player.) The festivities would include a golf outing and tailgate party. I think starting a poker rivalry between traditional sports rivals is a nifty idea, and I was to play for Texas in that contest. (You do not have to live there now to play; transplants are welcomed.) Bobby said that his state's football team is a big underdog, but his state's poker team, headed by 1986 World Champion Berry Johnston, will make a nice showing. Amarillo Slim, who headed the Texas poker team and also was in town to promote the contest, disagreed with this analysis.



I went out to dinner with Slim, Bobby, and several other poker players. I heard a bunch of stories about various poker players that were highly entertaining. Slim is even more colorful in private than he is on television. I have talked to him many times over the years, but this was the first time that I was with him in a setting where he could really let his hair down and tell stories that could not be sent out over the airwaves.



I also went with Bobby to several poker clubs in Dallas. These clubs might be called quasi-legal, meaning they would not likely stand the close scrutiny of a court of law, but are normally not bothered by law enforcement as long as they keep a low profile and do not generate complaints. Some of these poker clubs have been going for half a decade or more.



We distributed flyers on the Red River Rumble and chatted with the players. At one of the clubs, I was able to give a PowerPoint presentation on my 2005 World Series of Poker experience to about 25 people. All of the money raised from my talk (and book sales) went to the Red Cross to support the Hurricane Katrina victims. I am told there are about 10,000 evacuees in Dallas, a city with a big heart.



Dallas is the home of Bob Hamman, one of the world's great bridge players. I had the opportunity to go out to dinner with him and his wife. He told me a bridge story that could well be applied to poker, or some other game. About 30 years ago, Hamman was on the United States bridge team that was competing in the world championship (one of a number of times that he has represented America). This team had a non-playing captain, and had produced a poor session in the first part of a match. One of the team members, Jimmy, normally a great player, had played especially dreadfully. The team's captain approached Jimmy and said, tongue-in-cheek, "It appears from your play today that you might have a bet down on our opponents. I don't know if that is the case or not, but please do me a favor. If you do have a bet on them, I would like to have half of your action." I imagine that a player of any game who was representing our country would want to crawl into a hole after being talked to with such a scathing comment about his performance.

Bob Ciaffone has authored four poker books, Middle Limit Holdem Poker (available at CardPlayer.com), Pot-limit and No-limit Poker, Improve Your Poker, and Omaha Holdem Poker. Ciaffone is available for poker lessons: e-mail [email protected]. His website is http://www.pokercoach.us/, where you can get his rulebook, Robert's Rules of Poker, for free. Ciaffone is the cardroom director for ChecknRaisePoker.com.